After you have successfully taught your gymnasts the fundamentals of a skill, your focus will be on helping them improve the skill. Athletes learn skills and improve on them at different rates, so don’t get frustrated if progress seems slow. Instead, help them improve by shaping their skills and detecting and correcting errors.

Landing properly and knowing how to fall are both key aspects of injury prevention in the sport of gymnastics. These are prerequisite skills for gymnastics performance, and gymnasts should be continually educated in these areas. Education and reminders should be built into lesson plans and used for each apparatus.

These are important drills and progressions leading up to a handspring vault. It is highly recommended that the coach take the gymnast through the proper drills and progressions as stated in this section. Once the gymnast has acquired the basics, she will be ready to begin the next phase of a handspring vault.

You can read Human Kinetics e-books on desktop, laptop, and various mobile devices, as long as you have authorized the device or e-reader app to read e-books protected by Adobe’s digital rights management (DRM).

Coaching Youth Gymnastics covers all the basics of coaching and gymnastics in a concise style that is customized for entry-level gymnastics coaches. Developed by ASEP in cooperation with USA Gymnastics, this one-of-a-kind book offers a unique blend of general coaching and sport-specific information. The book’s 600-plus photos will help you understand skill technique and decide what skills to teach your athletes.

Included are Coaching Tips boxes that highlight key concepts, in addition to information on developing a coaching philosophy, communicating with athletes and parents, and providing basic sport first aid. The latest information regarding concussions and CDC protocols is also addressed. The book contains forms and safety checklists and sample lesson and practice plans to help you stay on task.

Techniques and skills for bars, floor, beam, and vault are presented by skill level rather than by age groups and are applicable to both boys and girls where appropriate. Information on falling and landing as well as suggestions on activities, conditioning, and games are provided.

The expertise of USA Gymnastics and ASEP’s proven success in coaching education will ensure that you are adequately prepared for the challenges of coaching youth gymnastics. With content aimed at developing the entire coach, not just skills and drills, Coaching Youth Gymnastics will help you to create an environment that promotes learning, enjoyment, safety, and motivation for youth gymnasts.

A resource for gymnastics coaches of athletes ages 6 to 14 and gymnasts
and their parents.

Kathy Feldmann, vice president of membership services at USA
Gymnastics, has been involved in gymnastics for over 40 years. She has
been a high school and college coach, physical education and health
teacher, and private gymnastics club owner. Currently she holds a brevet
rating as a women’s gymnastics official. Before assuming her current
role, Kathy held positions in the USA Gymnastics organization as a
national, regional, and state chair. She has been a USA Gymnastics
collegiate liaison, commissioner of officials for Massachusetts high
schools, delegation leader for world championships in 1994, and team
leader for World University Games in 1995, 1997, and 1999. Kathy judges
competitions for the Junior Olympic level as well as the collegiate
level. She has officiated at numerous national, Olympic Trials, and
international events. She was a technical assistant official at the 1996
Olympic Games in Atlanta.

Kathy has been at the USA Gymnastics national office since 1997 and as
vice president oversees the three divisions of membership, club
services, and educational services. She is the director of the annual
national congress and trade show, which is the largest educational event
conducted by USA Gymnastics.

Loree Galimore (director of club services) and Carisa Laughon
(former director of educational services) contributed to the writing and
development of this manual.

Loree Galimore is a former gymnast, club owner, coach and is a national
NAWGJ women’s gymnastics judge. She has worked with USA Gymnastics for
14 years and is now the Director of Club Services. She helps people with
the business of gymnastics, industry statistics and marketing the sport
of gymnastics.